Myth from the Stars
by ThatCertainWolf
Summary: A multi-chapter story investigating mythologies related to the species of Milky Way galaxy. (A Mass Effect non-canon lore expansion)
1. Chapter 1

**Hello again ladies and gentlemen! It's been a while since the last time I wrote a Mass Effect fanfiction. At this moment, I'd like to test my lore-expanding ability in writing fanfiction, and I think I'll start with making a non-canon "precursor"-like species predating the Reapers. Rate and review my story if you find it great. Enjoy!**

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Legends of a powerful creator race or species are not something new, even to the Citadel species. Although the names, motives, and origins of these legends are vary, they always share the same plot and outline; ancient entities whose existence predate the known world as we know it. The entities are supposedly the creators of the galaxy (or universe) with knowledge and power unimaginable to 'mortals', so we speak, living somewhere in the deep space, or hidden inside their distant sanctuary, leaving nothing about their culture or past interference but the rarest, scantiest of relics.

In a scientific light, this precursor/forerunner race is classified into pseudo-science matter, especially with the contemptible claims of them being a species much older than the Protheans. With no evidence of the supposedly pioneer species ever found, the mainstream scientists, Citadel's best scientists to be exact, refused to study the subject any further. This account seems to only fuel the faith in the precursor's existence, coupled with an large quantity of "sightings" reported throughout the galaxy.

The Asari, believe it or not, kept a large amount of recorded mythology about " _Athame's Chariot_ ", which tells an alleged race of deities from which the Asari's patron goddess, Athame, descended. The University of Armali, Thessia, performed a number of researches on the tales' origin for ten years or so before Thessia's government declared that the university's research as "a waste of time". In the end, all of the records were simply left in libraries across Asari space.

Other races also share the same kind of "precursor myth". The Turians, with their " _Spirits of Palaven's Sky_ " tales, the Salarians with " _Hunters of the Star_ ", and even the Hanar with their " _The Enkindler's Progenitors_ " being a lesser-known sect of their Prothean-based belief.

Of course, not all galactic cultures speak of them in a godly or saintly way. Some, like the Batarians, tell mythological stories of " _Great Mountain Beasts_ " who once created the world from rage and madness, creepy monsters who hid themselves deep within the Batarians' home planet, Khar'shan, so that when the time comes, the Mountain Beasts will come out and rule the world. Another good example is the Volus, in which their mythology and fairytales spoke of a precursor race called " _Shadows of Dark Skies_ ", a group of mysterious beings perhaps similar in theme with H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulu mythos.

Even the Krogan race, in their early days, told tales of a forerunning race named " _The Maw Riders_ ". There is no surviving record of this mythology after the Krogan Rebellions which rendered every known archive on Tuchanka in ruins.

Attempts to uncover the secrets of the "forerunners" usually ended up in failure. The most common reason (let's say, excuse) being that the purposed search location being located beyond dormant mass relays which, thanks to Citadel Convention, is strictly forbidden. Either because the Council doesn't want to risk another potential galactic war or, as conspiracy theorists argued, unwilling to discover something so controversial it could shift the galactic clout everyone so adapted to. Some of these dormant relays are located within the Terminus Systems, which is full of pirates and slavers, further adding the impediments of those willing to expose the forerunners' secrets.

To top it all, only a tiny number of books dedicated in solving this mystery has ever been published. The books, according to those who bought and study them, seems to mostly contain unverified evidences about the "precursors", and oftentimes written by controversial people not acquainted to any researchers acknowledged by either the Citadel Council or trustworthy scientific organization.

The currently-elected Asari councilor, when inquired regarding the stories, simply answered " _The Council and its top scientists and scholars do not support the existence of these so-called 'precursors', unless a proper evidence can be retrieved and properly studied by Citadel scientists._ " Despite her statement, many believed the truth is still hidden out there.


	2. Chapter 2

**Alright bros, remember when that Turian Councilor (Sparatus) air-quoted Shepard for saying "Reapers" out loud? Well, here's my headcanon explanation as to what the Reapers are according to ancient mythos told among the Milky Way races. Rate and review if you like it. Enjoy!**

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For every tale about gods and angels out there in the galaxy, there's always at least one tale telling about star-eating demons and monsters slipped between the folklores of the Milky Way species. And just like the previous one, no proof of the demons' existence aside from the vaguest of tales, either recovered in fragments from ancient ruins or shared among superstitious people.

Written in a critically acclaimed scientific book, _A Guide to Milky Way: Legends and Stories Long Forgotten_ , published by the University of Armali, the most popular myth is perhaps the "Reapers", purportedly a series of elusive stories telling about star-eaters who travelled the deep space, feeding on worlds where spacefaring lifeforms live. This lore originated from unaccounted claims of Asari archeological teams who were digging and studying some of the rarest, most-intact Prothean ruins scattered in the galaxy.

The ruins, said the Asari research lead Anaya N'Vila, held a small amount of jumbled but unharmed archives which, when activated, revealed some data about the enigmatic species' last moments before their sudden disappearance. When brought back to Thessia and translated into the "common" galactic language, the data said something about "Reapers" and that they " _came from beyond the darkness, swallowing everything in their path_."

To the ignorant (and maybe uneducated) masses, this is a frightening revelation. However, as a group of Salarian STG researchers said, the discovery was not entirely certified as they were not officially reported to the Citadel Council approximately eight days after the initial discovery.

The Turian Hierarchy also made a similar remark. The Turian Primarch of that time, Stara Razach, expressed his surprise that the galactic community " _mindlessly acknowledged a provocative finding without a logical explanation of its origin_ " when inquired.

True to the Primarch's words, no less than 84 percent of the galactic people, including the Citadel community, balked at the idea of all-powerful monsters hiding in deep space, ready to destroy life currently existing in the world. The conspiracy theorists remain undaunted, although mostly they made unsupported claims that these "demons and monsters" are nothing but political or racial slang for undesirable people.

Some thirty years later, the Hanar Illuminated Foundation in Kahje also made an almost similar discovery, if it can be called one. The foundation's leading Hanars received what was believed to be classified documents regarding the "Reaper" legend from a joint-species team permitted to study the numerous Prothean ruins on the planet. No official clarification was given, nonetheless, as both the Hanar society and the science team was doing their best to shield whatever happened. All that was told to the public was that new information recovered from the sacred site would be beneficial to the advancement of their race. But the STG was already one step ahead.

Comments made by self-announced "legal" conspiracy thinkers seems to insinuate that, just like the legends of the precursor races, these "Reaper Myths" are pretty much exaggeration, or most likely misunderstanding, of a spacefaring race before the currently existing ones. They believed that both precursors and Reapers are actually one and the same. The idea is, some ancient species perhaps no different than the Prothean race did some experiments on evolution, what kind of life can grow in what planet. The ancient ones would seed life onto a planet and see if it can evolve into whatever the ancient ones wanted. If the experiment succeeds, the newly sapient lifeform will be ascended, and if it failed, said life will be obliterated.

As of now, with no recognition from the mainstream community, any study or research related to the precursors and Reapers are to be ceased, the usual excuse being that such activity does absolutely nothing but wasting money and creating fuss for no reason.

A Salarian scholar, Valek Lostian, elaborates that the folklore of all-consuming entities are prevalent across all species' culture. The Quarian, for example once had tales of " _The Hunters of Smoke_ " which were mainly similar to the Reaper's myth. Another prime example is possibly the Krogans' legend of " _The Serpents of the Void_ ", which had some ties to their version of precursor fable. And all the accounts told nearly the same story; dark beings from unknown places would come at the end of days, destroying civilizations and consuming everything in their path, nothing can stop them unless a divine entity intervenes.

Perhaps The Prothean race once shared urban myths like these ones during their spare time?


	3. Chapter 3

**Ok, ladies and gentlemen, this chapter is probably less serious compared to the previous ones. It will discuss the myth of "fountain of youth" according to Mass Effect POV. Inspiration for this chapter came mainly from the fourth Pirates of the Caribbean movie, and little tidbits from other sources. As always, rate and review if you have time. Enjoy!**

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If superstitions about elder deities and creatures of darkness are not appealing for you, perhaps this one will entertain you, even though it serves no purpose but messing with your fantasy dreams; the Fountain of Youth, a type of holy water that bestows regeneration (or immortality) to those who consumes it. Of course, there's no such thing as _that_ in the galaxy... or is there?

Back in the Asari's early days of space exploration, all their folktales and bedtime stories followed them to the stars. Despite being the long-lived species they are, a 1,000 years lifespan were supposedly not enough to learn and discover the secrets of the cosmos, and so a way to prolong one's lifespan was needed. And that's the early Asari space voyager required; a baseless faith that somewhere out there, a secret to eternal life or youth is kept from the prying eyes of mortal. But as other races began to achieve spaceflight and become members (or former members) of the Citadel society, it became clear that legends of everlasting life is also prevalent in their arts, the Quarian, Drell, and Human cultures to name just few.

And just like the tales of "primordial" races, this "fountain of youth" tales also had books written about them. The differences are; books regarding the "pioneer races" are full of disputable evidences and written by questionable individuals, meanwhile books about the "fountain" contain elaboration on a species' hereditary culture and folktales, although some people would be foolish enough to believe everything the folktales said.

" _It's just hearsay!_ " Filion Moske, a Salarian anthropologist once working in Noveria explained, " _Have you heard how many Asari and Salarian travelers organized explorations to find this water of eternity, or whatever its name is? Around 100 or more, and what did they find? Nothing! Absolutely nothing!_ " This statement became viral after scholars from Sur'Kesh were allowed to publish their writings on galactic customs indigenous to each race. Not just to mock the so-called treasure hunters, but also to point out the ludicrousness of scientific conspiracy theories. Filion added that anyone who are stupid enough to seek out the "bedtime story" will most likely " _find themselves buried under a colossal mound of humiliation_ ".

Selea Seratica, a Turian sociologist currently studying in Armali, gives her insight in this matter, " _It is clear that the belief in life-extending objects is a product of each species' mythology. You can say it's kind of their tradition to envisage celestial gifts from their deities to be scattered all over the galaxy. I can't blame them, because believe it or not, my grandmother used to tell fanciful stories like that._ "

The story's versions are the same, although certain elements might be different; hidden in some uncharted planet in the Milky Way galaxy, there is a spring, oasis, or artificial water container believed to be a gift from a greater being. The water can either return an old person back young, or dispel sickness and witchcraft. Treasure hunters and adventurers would assume that the "fountain" comes with valuables of any form.

And yes, just like every treasure, something must always guard it. It could be vicious pre-spaceflight species like the Yahg or something worse, frightening beasts of unknown origin, sorcery to banish, the place could be located in hazardous areas, or maybe it is riddled with all kinds of defenses either natural or synthetic.

In that case, nobody is actually preventing you from tracking down the "fountain" should you wish to do so. The least danger you'd face will probably be pirates, mercenaries, or jeering from those who knew that you went searching for a "hearsay" and failed. In the event that the "fountain" is truly real and you somehow got killed when coming close to it, well...


	4. Chapter 4

**Ladies and gentlemen, this is chapter 4 of my fanfiction which will discuss a little bit about urban legends and creepypastas from the point of view of Citadel races. I'm not expecting this chapter to be well-written or having a solid content, but as always, rate and review if you enjoy it. Happy reading!**

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Urban legends. Ah yes, a popular culture those invasive and contagious Humans brought with them to the stars. The Citadel races already have their own bedtime spooks, but with the introduction of Human culture, the daytime become as fearsome as the night for those who indulge themselves with this type of trend, not even the bravest of the space-voyaging aliens.

This kind of storytelling most frequently starts using the line " _I heard from a friend of my friend that..._ " and so on and so forth. Salarians rarely find it amusing or worth listening to, considering their logical and intellectual nature. For the Asari and Quarian pilgrims, the tales are enough to provoke all kinds of reaction; eager to hear more urban legends, scoffing in disbelief, and even paranoia. With Quarians and their habit of sharing stories among their kin, indulging in the Human's urban legend doesn't seem to be a good activity. Good point, actually, why would they talk about horror stuff within their cramped, maze-like, and claustrophobic ships?

Lilia T'Pani, an Asari scholar who studied the "legends" gathered from Human literatures translated into the common galactic language, described that " _the habit of spreading ghoulish folklores is, to an extent, a tradition of ancient people to shed explanation to their primal fears and fallacy. Of course, people may choose to ignore or refuse to accept it, but it will always be a part of exotic social value that cannot be erased._ "

T'Pani also gives an alien adaptation of the lore. For example, one of the stories will say " _I have a Turian boyfriend whose Elcor friend did something..._ " or something like that.

And just like the Human's horror movie cliché, the alien's "legends" is full of nonsense like cursed planets, lost expeditions, haunted house appliances, and the like. According to Mali Q'Rammi in her sociology book titled " _Terrans and Galactic Urban Folktales"_ , a widely slated book due to its racist view towards Humanity, more than 70 percent of Citadel occupants enjoy trading such creepypasta. Combine that with 68 percent of the population from Illium and 93 percent of Omega's inhabitants, and you'll have a galaxy crammed by delusory people. The book's writer blamed this phenomenon on the _abnormally large_ number of Human population in the galaxy.

Perhaps the two most popular stories are the Green Omnitool, an alleged defective omnitool that is said to cause brain damage when used more that eleven days, and the Preying Mouth, a supposedly purplish gas giant said to "swallow" any spaceship that comes close it.

Some supernatural skeptics (mainly Salarian scholars) use these kinds of lore to insinuate that the education system of the Citadel races is faulty at best, allowing students and society at large to mindlessly receive information without filtering and checking its validity. Other skeptics, however, dismissed the urban legends as star voyager tales no different than the once-popular "Reaper myth".

Are you bold enough to share and listen to an urban myth yourself?


End file.
